“Not dying, not dead, not slipping away,” he muses along to the music. “Sorry if I depressed you. Maybe I should have phrased it better.”

In his comments made during the BBC show Billy Connolly: Made in Scotland, the funnyman said: “My life is slipping away and I can feel it and I should. I’m 75 and I’m a damn sight nearer the end than I am the beginning. But it doesn’t frighten me – it’s an adventure and it’s quite interesting to see myself slipping away, as bits slip off and leave me, talents leave and attributes leave.”

Billy’s words in the documentary, which was filmed in November, appeared to contradict his thoughts in a piece he wrote for U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail the previous month.

In the article, written in response to claims made by his longtime friend Michael Parkinson that his “wonderful brain” had been “dulled” by the disease, he explained that he has “learned to live” with his condition and that his doctor expects he will live until he is 90.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.